Healed
by kardamon
Summary: Sookie reacts differently when Eric comes to tell her that he's healed.
1. Chapter 1

**Summary: this story is an alternative scenario for season 7 of True Blood and it starts somewhere around episode 7, "May be the last time". Because, let's face it, that episode sucked.**

**It is a one-shot for now, but I am considering writing a few more chapters and turning it into a short story depending on the feedback (so let me know if you'd like that, please).**

**I would like to thank my beta, Breathesgirl, for finding time to take care of this little story for me while still working on my SVM story, 'Forget-me-not'.**

**Disclaimer: sad truth is, if True Blood script was a fanfiction, I would have stopped reading it a a long time ago.**

**Rated T for language.**

* * *

><p>HEALED<p>

.

Sookie Stackhouse tossed in her bed and sighed for the hundredth time that night. Lord knew she needed some rest but sleep, the elusive bastard, wouldn't find her. There was too much to worry about!

She really had had a week from hell: the pack of infected vampires attacked her home town and kidnapped her friends. Her best friend and boyfriend died gruesome deaths. Eric showed up after six months of absence only to reveal that he was sick and that he too was running on borrowed time and then she learned that her first love, Bill Compton, was infected with Hep-V as well and that the disease was progressing unusually fast in his case. She sighed again.

She felt bad about Bill, she really did, especially since it turned out that she was the one who had infected him. She felt like she owed it to him to be there for him at the end so he wouldn't feel alone. It seemed like the least she could do… Only she couldn't.

She had tried. She had gone to his house and waited for him with Jessica and then they had talked and made peace, and she was actually grateful for that, since it gave them closure and a chance to forgive each other – him for the fact she unintentionally infected him and her for all his past betrayals and the heartache he had caused her…

It was all good – sad, but good – until it became apparent that the virus was starting to affect Bill's mental capacities: he had started hallucinating.

From what she could tell by listening to his mumbled words he dreamed up a vision of her coming to him once again in a virginal white dress, as she had once done, and accepted him back into her life as a romantic partner. That wouldn't have been so bad but when he started to imagine having sex with her she decided that she could no longer be witness to his suffering: she needed to leave. Jessica had understood. Frankly, it was embarrassing and disturbing and she felt bad for witnessing it.

Sookie sighed again. She couldn't help but feel guilty. Everyone and everything was dying around her. Misery followed her every step. Maybe she really should just leave town and…

The noise from downstairs interrupted her train of thought. She frowned but after a moment the sound repeated and she identified it as someone knocking on the door.

"What now?" she grumbled as she got out of bed.

She threw on her bathrobe and stomped down the stairs, angry that someone had the nerve to come to her house at that time of night. Then she sobered up – what if something had happened? What if it was Jessica? Maybe she came to tell her that Bill…

Sookie swung the door open and gasped when it revealed the tall frame of the vampire standing on her porch. He wasn't who she had expected.

"Eric!" she cried out, feeling the simultaneous rush of relief from seeing him still undead and sorrow at the thought that it was only temporary comfort.

"Nice outfit," he commented taking in her bathrobe-clad form.

Sookie's emotions got the better of her: she acted on instinct and before he had a chance to explain himself she reached for him and grabbed him roughly by the lapels of his leather jacket to pull his face closer to hers. She was seething.

"Where have you been?" she yelled. "And why weren't you answering your phone? Would it kill you to at least send me a text? What the hell is wrong with you!"

Much to her dismay Eric seemed rather amused and pleased with himself.

"Did you worry for me, lover?" he purred.

"You bet I was worried! You tell me you're dying and then you're not answering my calls? What was I supposed to think? What the hell, Eric?"

"I was busy," he said cheekily.

There was a smirk on his face that was making her mad as a wet hen. The last time she'd seen him he had seemed to be resigned and calm but the sadness and exhaustion was weighing heavily on him, but now, now his apparent inappropriate good mood was just pissing her off.

"You can't keep doing this! First you drop off the face of Earth for months without letting anybody know what's going on with you and if you were okay, and then you get yourself sick and disappear again! I didn't even know if you were alive! I'm so fucking angry at you right now!"

He grinned even wider and his eyes danced.

"You're talking too much," he said and silenced her with a swift kiss.

He smiled against her lips when she melted against him after initially freezing for a second, but then frowned when he smelled her tears. He broke the kiss and rested his forehead against hers.

"Sookie…" he breathed, stroking her hair with his calloused hand. "Shhh, it's okay."

She trembled in his arms and the shadow of the old blood-bond was just enough for him to recognise that it was because of pain.

"How can you say that?" she whispered bitterly. "Nothing is okay. Damn it, Eric! You're dying! It's not fucking okay!"

She hit him weakly on the chest, not really wanting to hurt him, but in a helpless act of frustration and then fisted the fabric of his tank-top in her hands. She dropped her gaze, avoiding looking into his eyes, since she didn't want to cry, instead she stared at his chest.

Suddenly she stiffened as her eyes fixed on the path of pale skin uncovered by her mistreatment of his clothes, just above the edge of his tank-top. She swallowed hard, her mouth feeling dry. Her heart-beat sped up wildly and she could hear the rhythmical rush of her own blood in her ears. She stood there frozen, equally afraid to look away and risk that what she was seeing would disappear and to believe that it wouldn't…

_God, please, let it be true. Please, let it not be another dream, I can't wake up now._

She licked her lips, still not looking up.

"Eric?" she said and it broke his heart a little to hear how small her voice was. "Are you… What…?"

She couldn't bring herself to finish her sentence, the unexpected hope crushing her chest, too painful and fragile to voice aloud.

"That's what I was trying to tell you," Eric said gently. "I came here to let you know that you don't need to worry about me anymore. I'm fine."

Instead of replying Sookie rolled down the dark fabric of the tank-top with trembling hands as far it would stretch, finding only smooth, milky-white skin underneath it. She inhaled deeply.

"Take it off," she demanded sharply.

Eric leered at her teasingly.

"If you wanted me to strip for you, all you had to do was…"

"Take it off, Eric," she repeated, without a hint of humour in her voice. "I need to see."

Without another word, he stepped back and shrugged off his jacket before dropping it carelessly on the porch floor. Despite the seriousness of the situation he couldn't quite stop himself from preening and the smirk from tugging at the corner of his mouth when he stepped into the circle of light from the lantern and slowly took off his tank-top and tossed it aside.

Sookie watched, mesmerised, as he uncovered the expanse of flawless skin. She inched closer to him until she could touch him. She unashamedly ran her hands up and down his impressive arms and across his chest. The dreaded black veins were gone as if she had dreamed them up in the first place. He was standing tall and proud, once again strong and as healthy as a vampire could be. She finally looked up into his sparkling eyes.

"Tell me it's true," she asked, a desperate plea in her voice. "Tell me it's not some kind of trick, and you're not still sick but just found some way to hide it – that Pam didn't paint you with stage make-up, or something…"

He barked with laughter. He had been in a continuously great mood ever since he beat the decease, his _joie de vivre_ flaring right back up and replacing the feeling of grief and depression that had been haunting him for the past six months. He felt healed in more ways than one.

He quickly sobered up when he realised Sookie wasn't laughing with him.

"I promise, Sookie," he said solemnly. "It's not a trick. I'm cured."

She closed the gap between them and hugged him tightly, resting her head against his naked chest and letting herself cry when her strained nerves finally relaxed and a huge weight lifted off her shoulders. He was there in the flesh. He was real.

"I was so scared," she admitted, her voice faltering. "Don't you dare ever do that again!"

She kissed the place where his silent heart was and something inside him unravelled further in reaction to this simple gesture. He had already accepted that he was going to always have a soft spot for Sookie Stackhouse but he was pleasantly surprised at the way she welcomed him when he returned to Bon Temps. It was bittersweet to hear the joy in her voice when she realised it was him at Bill's door but before she fully took in the sight of him, and then to watch the expression on her face change when understanding hit her. It was extremely selfish, but he found an odd sense of comfort in the fact that she cared enough to be affected.

After their talk he believed she did care. It was what brought him to her doorstep. Plus, almost dying was good for putting things into perspective. There were very few people besides Pam (and Ginger – he snickered inwardly) who would miss him if he was gone. He quite liked the thought that Sookie Stackhouse was one of them. She happened to be one of the few he cared about as well.

She deserved to know – and now he knew he had done the right thing by coming.

"I'm okay, Sookie," he said stroking her back. "It's okay."

His soothing touch and murmured words of comfort slowly started to work and she felt herself beginning to calm down. She didn't want to think about ending the embrace and leaving the safe bubble that existed within his arms.

"I've already told you once that I've lost too many people in my life," she whispered, as if afraid to break the spell.

Eric closed his eyes momentarily, remembering the moment she meant and the words that followed:

_I can't lose you too._

"You've lost even more since then," he remarked.

"Yes. I have."

She looked up at him, her eyes like two dark pools, deep and earnest. She raised her hand and slowly, as if asking for permission, cupped his cheek.

"I can't lose you, Eric," she echoed seriously.

He looked into her eyes for a few seconds, as if both searching for something and making some kind of decision, and then he said calmly:

"You haven't."

* * *

><p><strong>There are many things I didn't like about season 7, but it seriously irritated me that Sookie didn't spare even a second to tell Eric she was happy that he was going to be okay when she found out he'd been cured.<strong>

**Also, after watching an episode that consisted almost solely of flashback, dreams, visions and hallucinations, I really wasn't sure at first when I saw Sookie in a white, flowing dress recreating her run across the cemetery, if it was supposed to be real or just a memory - that's where the idea came from. **


	2. Chapter 2

**You asked so nicely that I couldn't refuse...**

**Credit for editing goes to Breathesgirl.**

**Credit for altering goes to me.**

**Credit for un-fixed version goes to HBO.**

* * *

><p><em>Previously:<em>

_She looked up at him, her eyes like two dark pools, deep and earnest. She raised her hand and slowly, as if asking for permission, cupped his cheek._

_"I can't lose you, Eric," she echoed seriously._

_He looked into her eyes for a few seconds, as if both searching for something and making some kind of decision, and then he said calmly:_

_"You haven't."_

* * *

><p>She moved her hand to caress his face softly. With her thumb stroking his brow his eyelids fluttering at the sensation.<p>

"So… there is a cure?" she asked softly.

"Mhmm… yes, there is," he said lazily, "but don't tell anyone."

She smiled, thinking he was joking.

"Why not?"

"It's a secret." His eyes popped open and his tone changed. "I mean it, Sookie. _Don't_ tell anyone."

"I don't understand… It's good news, isn't it?"

"It's a long story."

She looked at him searchingly for a few seconds.

"Why don't you come inside and tell me about it?" she asked sliding her hands down and taking one of his hands in her own and stepping back to lead him to the door. He didn't miss the fact that she had just invited him in but it wasn't the time.

"No, lover," he said. "It's late. I just wanted to tell you I'm cured but I need to go now."

Her face fell.

"Oh," she said and he could hear a hint of rejection in her voice. "You could always stay here?… I mean, if you need a place to stay, there is still the cubby…"

He waited until her eyes settled back on his.

"I would love to," he told her, "but I have to make it back to Shreveport before dawn."

She nodded quickly, biting her lower lip.

"Of course. I understand."

He gave her a reassuring smile before letting go of her to pick up his discarded clothes and get dressed.

"Eric, wait!" she called before he could take off.

He quirked an eyebrow, "You should know... Bill is sick!"

He stilled, "What?" he asked.

The expression on his face changed as he took in the bad news. He'd never been a friend of Bill Compton's but old habits die hard and in a way Eric still felt responsible for the vampires in his old area, even though he was no longer the sheriff. For a second a pang of old hurt made itself known when he thought of Sookie's concern for Bill but he quickly scolded himself: his jealousy was irrational. It was true that he had smelt Bill's blood in Sookie the night he had returned and found her in his house, but she had ended things with the younger vampire a long time ago and had been in a relationship with Alcide for months, up until the wolf's recent death. There was nothing going on between Sookie and Bill.

"I infected him," she confessed dropping her eyes. Eric's eyebrows shot up. Understanding dawned on him.

"You feel guilty," he stated.

"Yes. I gave him some of my blood just before you came back. He hadn't fed for some time and I wanted him to be strong before the fight…"

_How fucking ironic –_ Eric thought, keeping himself from saying as much out loud.

"I didn't know you were Hep-V positive," he mused. He filed away for later the question who had tested her and if there was evidence to get rid of in case someone noticed the uniqueness of her blood.

She snorted.

"Yeah, well, I didn't know either. I had been tested just a few days before so I thought I was safe, but…"

Suddenly, her eyes widened in horror and her hand flew to her mouth.

"Oh my God, Eric, you kissed me! What if…"

He caught her hand and moved it aside.

"You can't infect me," he said quickly, looking into her panicked eyes. "I'm immune."

He grinned at her devilishly as he added:

"Fret not my little fairy, you may kiss me as much as you wish," and to prove his point, he leaned down and planted a peck on her lips.

The wicked, predatory part of him took a dark pleasure at the thought that he was now essentially the only vampire that could taste and touch her. Some of that greed must have been mirrored in his expression because Sookie shivered more from the look on his face than from his kiss.

When he saw that his assurance relaxed her a bit he returned to the previous topic of their conversation. He didn't have much time left if he wanted to beat the sun and he had no intentions of making the Japanese suspicious if he didn't show up at Fangtasia by daybreak.

"The cure exists," he confirmed, "but I made a deal with a devil to get it. One of the conditions was that I would not tell anybody about it."

"What do you mean?" she asked confused. "Are you telling me that the cure won't be used to stop the Hep-V outbreak? That all those sick vampires won't get it?"

"They will," he said quickly, "but not just yet and only in a diluted form."

"Bill can't wait," she warned him. "He doesn't have that kind of time."

Eric frowned.

"And why is that? If he just got infected, he should have at least…"

"The virus is spreading really quick," Sookie cut him off. "It's probably… because of my blood. Of what I am. He looks worse than you did when you came back and he started hallucinating tonight. Eric, please, help him. It's my fault he's sick."

"Fuck," Eric cursed softly. This was bad. He remembered that when he was sick the hallucinations didn't start up until the very end. He took a moment to sort through his options.

"Sookie, listen to me," he said urgently. "I'll try to find a way to get the cure for Bill, but I have to go now and I need you to promise me that you'll wait for me to contact you and won't try to do anything on your own. Don't come to Fangtasia, either. The people I'm dealing with are very rich and quite dangerous. I can't afford tipping them off, it could get us all killed. I don't want you anywhere near them."

His face hardened when he was talking about the Yakuza and Sookie suspected that there was more to the story than he was letting on. She wasn't wrong about that, as the people he was talking about worked for the very same corporation that had been responsible for his forced transition into the States two decades before and for the murder of his lover.

Eric could admit to himself that he had made a terrible mistake, and an embarrassingly stupid one for a vampire his age, by not heeding Nan's warning but it caught him off guard and temporarily blinded him when he had become unexpectedly charmed by a woman beyond the short-lived desire to spend a night with her. In his defense he genuinely didn't think that his actions warranted such a harsh punishment, naively thinking that it was just about Nan jerking his chain. A threat of exposure? There were vampires who hunted in the crowded cities, like Bill and Lorena, leaving the trails of bodies behind them, for fuck's sake. All he had done was have sex with, and feed from his _willing_ lover on the empty field in a fucking _vineyard_ of all places! Seriously, was there any better place to make red stains look inconspicuous? No, the real lesson was not about remembering about what was best for his kind, but about following orders without questioning them.

He had underestimated the danger and Sylvie paid for his recklessness. Her death weighed heavily on his conscious. He didn't quite love her, at least not yet, but he certainly cared deeply for her and he knew that she trusted him completely, perhaps even blindly. He had failed her. He wasn't about to make the same mistake twice. He also wasn't fool enough to risk simply killing Mr Gus – he could, of course, easily take him out with Pam's help, along with his goons, but that would be hardly the end of it. The Japanese government was already aware of the cure and they would not be giving that goldmine up willingly. Eric saw how easily they found Sarah and he had no illusions that they wouldn't use their resources against him. He needed to plan something better than that. He did, however, intend to let them know that he wasn't going to let them keep him on a short leash. He wasn't a pet to be trained and put on show, he was a Viking! They were never going to really trust each other but if this co-operation was going to work, it had to be based on respect.

"Okay," Sookie said shaking him out of his thoughts. "I get it. I promise not to do anything stupid."

He smirked at the way she phrased it.

"Who are these people, Eric?" she asked seriously.

"Japanese mafia."

"Holy shit!"

"That's about right – so sit tight and wait for my call."

"Yes, sir," she saluted.

He gave her a lopsided smile that once used to be naughty but now she could feel the real warmth behind it.

"That's my girl," he crooned and for a second they both tensed when the meaning of his words hit them. "I really have to go now," he added and stepped back.

"Hey, Eric!" she called after him again when she saw that he was about to leave. He looked at her questioningly. "Thank you for doing this," she said softly. "And please, be careful."

Always a flirt, he took her hand and kissed her knuckles lightly, looking deeply into her eyes.

"Right back at you, Miss Stackhouse," he said before letting her hand slip out of his grasp and jumping off the porch.

He took off into the air without another word, leaving her alone on the old porch. She just stood there for a moment, looking into the slowly fading darkness of the pre-dawn sky and simply taking everything in. She inhaled deeply as the elusive feeling of peace filled her for the first time in days. Something was finally going right.

This time, when she went to bed, she didn't toss or sigh. She had no time for that – she fell asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.

* * *

><p><strong>More?<strong>


	3. Chapter 3

**Before I say anything else, let me tell you: YOU ARE WONDERFUL! Thank you for all the reviews and alerts. I really didn't expect this story to be so successful.**

**I also wanted to thank my Beta, Breathesgirl, for all her work on this chapter.**

**A word of explanation: it was supposed to be Eric's chapter, but Pam started talking to me, so they had to share.**

**Disclaimer: I dis(c)lame you, True Blood!**

* * *

><p>Eric Northman touched the ground of the Fangtasia parking lot exactly five minutes before the first ray of sun broke over the horizon.<p>

He strolled leisurely toward the door which was guarded by two Asians, associates of Mr. Gus'. They watched him walk towards them but didn't say a word nor did they stop him from entering.

His eyes met Pam's: She was sitting at the table with Mr. Gus and discussing the details of the advertisement campaign.

Eric's arrival caused a pause in the conversation, "Where were you?" Pam asked in her typical bored voice. The question was bound to be asked sooner or later and it was better if it was Pam who voiced it rather than their Japanese partner in crime. It would give Eric more room to maneuver while answering – after all, he didn't have to care about being polite while talking to his own child.

"I had some catching up to do," he said nonchalantly.

"Business or pleasure?" Mr. Gus asked, seemingly just to make small talk.

Eric's answering smile was positively lascivious, "Pleasure."

It was best to keep it simple and make everyone believe he was just thinking with his dick – it was an explanation every man could understand and wouldn't question too much. He didn't mind being thought of as a pig if it bought him a measure of safety. He had never cared if others perceived him in a positive light unless they were important to him.

Pam's curiosity spiked at his admission and she inhaled discreetly when Eric came closer in order to gauge if he was telling the truth or just making a convenient cover for whatever he'd been up to.

It would be easy for vampire senses to pick up on the distinctive smell of sex but she didn't find it on Eric. She did, however, detect a faint scent – it was lingering on his skin, but not strongly enough to permeate his clothes and she probably wouldn't have noticed it if not for the fact that she knew it far too well for her liking: Sookie's scent.

_What did she do, __**hug**_ _him?_ – Pam thought mockingly. _How generous of her!_

It wasn't the scent itself that was unpleasant – Pam had to admit that the part-fairy smelled delicious – it was the grudge she held against the telepath that made the scent unwelcome. Pam had no romantic designs on Eric – men were not really her type any more – but she knew that what she was feeling had a lot to do with jealousy, although it wasn't over whose bed Eric chose to crawl into. He could share his body with whomever he wished – it was sharing her maker's attention and affection that Pam minded: She wasn't used to that.

Despite the image Eric had created for himself of being a casual and unfeeling vampire he actually had a lot of love in him to give to others.

He was used to loving more than one person at the same time: he doted on Pam, but there had also been Godric and Nora, whose existence Pam had not even been aware of until shortly before her True Death.

It was different for Pam: for more than a century there had only been the two of them: No one else mattered. She had not cared for anybody else in her entire existence, with the all too brief exception of Tara, but Tara was gone before they ever really got a chance to know one another.

Even as a human she had not had a loving family or close friends she could depend on. She had been on her own, fighting tooth and nail for everything in her life, until Eric came along, so he became the focal point of her world since her first rising.

When he had first come face to face with her, both brutal and elegant at the same time, unashamed of his bloody appearance, she had been terrified but she had held his gaze and she had seen in his eyes something that probably mirrored her own expression: curiosity.

In that moment she had felt for the first time in her life as if someone was not only looking at her, but that someone actually _saw_ her: not the costume she wore every day, not the artificial mask of her make-up, not the dress which both covered and revealed her shape, not her status or profession. He wasn't seeing her upbringing, her age, or her gender. It wasn't even her face that he saw. It was _her, _her real self, that Eric saw that long ago night. And it had been _her_ he had sought out afterwards, not her blood or her body. It had been _her_ he had taken unapologetically, it had been _her_ he wanted. And because of that Pam didn't stop to think of _what_ he was, she only wanted to learn about _who_ he was, just like he did her. She could see that he was not human but she had seen all kinds of monsters in human skin before and they had seemed much more revolting to her.

There was a darkness to Eric but also grace. He was merciless but not malicious. Violent and lethal, yet in some twisted way honorable.

What he had really taken from her that fateful night was a part of her soul. In an act of desperate bravery she had pushed him to take more – to take everything – so he had taken her life and he had given her a new one: The one in which she could be _herself._

It was natural for her to put him first and the mere thought of putting someone not only above him, but equally high, felt like a betrayal to her – and for a very long time it felt like she had had the same special place in Eric's heart that he had in hers.

Of course she knew about Godric and had accepted his place in Eric's life but that was different; it was something she could relate to since she experienced the same devotion to her own maker first hand – but then she had discovered he had a vampire sister he had never even told her about, and shortly after that he had created another child and it had hurt.

Pam hated to admit it but it made her feel insecure. It was easy to question the role of the others in his life. She wondered if Eric wasn't somehow loving her less by loving others as well, if the love he offered them was the same love that used to belong only to her: if giving it away elsewhere wasn't causing there to be less left for her.

She didn't see that loving another would mean that Eric's heart would simply expand to create enough love for everyone, instead she felt that his love for others fell under the same harsh mathematical rules as sharing any physical object would, and that she would have to be content to hold just a small slice of it when she was used to having it all to herself. It still wasn't as hard a pill for her to swallow as seeing him risking his life for that… that… fairy-flavoured _cunt_ who wasn't even of his blood-line. On the top of everything else the ungrateful little bitch didn't seem to realize what she had or appreciate Eric's efforts and the risks he'd taken for her time and time again just to keep her safe and happy and instead of thanking him she'd broken his heart!

Pam's angry inner musings caused her to speak up:

"Don't tell me that you left me here to do all the work while you went to see…" she saw the steely glint of warning in his eyes the moment she started talking and it wasn't just a good-natured scolding, but a deadly serious threat. Only at the last moment did she realize why the look was so frosty and exactly what he was warning her about. She seamlessly changed the way she intended to end her sentence: "…some slut."

Eric might not like Pam calling Sookie names, but the name wasn't what the look was about – the one name which, if uttered, might prove to be an unforgivable sin at the moment was Sookie's own name. Giving away her identity was something Eric didn't want to risk.

Eric cocked his eyebrow "Jealous?" he asked, ruffling her hair – a gesture that could be read as an affectionate caress, but for Pam, who could sometimes spend hours working on her hair and who didn't let anybody touch it, it was also a form of mild admonishment. It also worked to distract Mr. Gus from what they were talking about.

Had it been anybody else other than Eric they would have lost their hand for messing with her hair.

Pam's fangs snapped down of their own accord, "Don't ruin my hair!" she hissed automatically.

_Farther, brother, son –_ she thought sarcastically and then added another noun to the list - _asshole._

Eric flashed her a grin as if he could hear her thoughts. Who knows? Maybe Sookie's telepathy was rubbing off on him?

"You'll have to fix it tonight anyway," he said, shrugging. "It's time for us to go to rest.

Mr. Gus, if you'll excuse us," he turned to the man in question, "the dawn is coming: We need to go to ground for the day. If there is anything of importance you want to tell us, please, say it now. I'm afraid the rest of the discussion will have to wait until dusk."

Even if the businessman didn't like it he had no choice but to acknowledge the fact that vampires were creatures of the night and there was no stopping the rising sun or vampires reaction to it.

"Of course," he simply said, nodding. "I understand. I have some business to take care of during the day so I won't be here when you wake up, but my people will keep you company until I return.

Mr. Northman, your entertainment is none of my business, but it would be...problematic if anyone were to find out that you have been healed before we release our product so I would appreciate it if you kept a low profile until then. We wouldn't want any of your… friends to spread gossip about a cure. I hope you understand. Please don't do anything to… jeopardise our co-operation while I'm gone."

A clear warning: we'll be watching you. Don't do anything stupid.

Eric smiled tightly but kept his face neutral.

"I understand perfectly well what you're saying, Mr. Gus," he replied. "There is nothing for you to be concerned about: you're right, what I'm doing behind closed doors is my business but I have no intention of parading myself and my conquests in public. You don't have to worry about premature news of my recovery: I've been gone from this area for about six months so even if someone sees me they won't know I was sick in the first place."

"Very well. Still… I ask for your discretion."

Eric nodded and gestured for Pam to come with him. She stood up, glad that she was off the hook, and said her goodbyes before following Eric to the basement where they both slipped inside the secure travel coffins. They didn't really need to be literally underground and most of the time Eric preferred to lock himself in his office if he had to spend the day in Fangtasia but they were taking advantage of the fact that the Japanese didn't know their routine.

They wanted to stay close to Sarah in case their new partners thought it would be a good idea to play them: she was the best insurance policy because the corporation wouldn't risk anything happening to her and they could both get out of their coffins without the threat of burning in the sun if there was an emergency. Of course they had made sure a long time ago that no one could open the coffins from the outside so it would be very difficult to surprise them with a sudden attack, even in their sleep.

After Eric got into his coffin and closed the lid he took a minute to think of his options. He had promised Sookie that he would help but he had to proceed with caution. Obtaining the cure wasn't the problem – Sarah was right there and he could draw some of her blood and then heal the bite mark without anyone noticing. It was getting the cure out of Fangtasia without raising the alarm that could prove tricky.

He could demand a vial of Sarah's blood as a vaccine for Willa and take a little more than he had to but then he'd be alerting the Yakuza to the fact that he had another progeny and they wouldn't hesitate to use that information for leverage if needed.

The last thing he wanted to do was to bring Willa more trouble. He had already screwed up enough where his youngest child was concerned and he could only hope that now, when his time on Earth wasn't limited, he would be able to find a way to make it up to Willa. Making her a pawn in this dangerous game, however, wasn't a good place to start.

He could arrange for someone to sneak in through the tunnel and carry the cure out of Fangtasia without being detected. No one would suspect him if the transfer took place during the day. For some strange reason Sookie's brother came to mind: Jason wasn't too bright, but would make, and had already proven to be, a fine soldier. Eric had his phone in his pocket, all it could take would be to make a call - of course this solution would come with the risk of Sookie getting involved… he sighed.

He could also take a gamble and sneak out himself after nightfall, counting on Pam to distract their 'friends' until he was back – but if he was to be discovered, or if Mr. Gus returned too early, it would be obvious that he was up to something underhanded.

There was one more option left and he thought he liked it the best. It wasn't without risk either but it would give him an opportunity to show the Japanese that he wasn't going to roll over and play dead or bark on command: he could force them to make the first move against him and take a justified action to ensure his own safety. Fangtasia had a surveillance system but the footage didn't include sound. He could provoke them into attacking him.

Mr. Gus was too smart for that to work on him, but he wasn't going to be there and the rest were just pawns, easily played and disposed of. After getting rid of them he would dutifully report the incident, claim self-defense and refuse to be subjected to similar attempts on his life in future, which would open the door to renegotiate the way their relationship was going to work. It would also buy him a few hours to leave the bar without the tail and complete his mission in peace.

He spent a few more minutes working on the details of his plan before he was satisfied. He allowed himself a moment to relax before giving in to the pull of the sun and reflected on his night. All in all things were going well. He needed to tread carefully but he was in a much better place than just the week before.

It felt surprisingly good to be back. Willa didn't give him a warm welcome, and he couldn't say that he blamed her. He had turned out to be a shitty maker to her and had done one of the few things he thought he would never do – he abandoned his newly turned child and just took off when he felt that he was close to his breaking point. He hadn't intended to be gone for so long but things got complicated when he was forced to hide while healing from the severe case of sunburn and then caught the virus.

There was no excuse for what he had done but there was an explanation and he owed it to Willa, along with a promise that if she would ever let him, he would be there for her and do better if given a second chance. He hoped that once her anger faded she would allow him to earn her forgiveness. He might be a crappy maker, but he was the only maker she had. He didn't push it the last time he saw her because he thought he would be forced to leave her again soon anyway, so any promises he could have offered her had seemed empty and she had had enough of those.

His thoughts drifted to the other woman he had left in Louisiana six months before. She seemed to be quite pleased to see him back. He licked his lips and found the faint taste of the kiss they shared still lingering there.

He stopped himself from purring like a cat. Her warm body had felt wonderful in his arms. He indulged in his desire to let himself enjoy the last traces of her elusive scent which was still clinging to his skin. Now that he was back he finally acknowledged what he had not been admitting to himself while he'd been gone: he had missed her.

He wasn't sure if it was because of the six month long separation or because he nearly died but it felt as if most of the painful details from their past had faded and become less significant in comparison to the memories of the good things which had stayed vivid in his mind.

He had a feeling it was the same way for her. Finally there was no mistrust or distance between them. He didn't detect even a hint of the usual suspicion she had always regarded him with, even after she had come to care for him. He wasn't the villain in the story anymore – so he could be the better man and save Bill.

He smiled in the dark at the irony of that. He could just imagine the look on Bill's face when he realized that it was Eric he owed his existence to.

_Oh, Bill_ – he thought, suddenly amused. – _You're so screwed. You will get to be neither a hero __**nor**_ _a martyr. Whatever are you going to do? I believe it's a lose/lose for you!_

It was probably one of the few times in Eric's long un-dead existence when he fell into his day-time rest fighting back a snicker.

* * *

><p><strong>I know many of you want for Sookie and Eric to leave Bill to rot and see him dead, but that's exactly what BILL wants (to die tragically). Bugger, right?<strong>


	4. Chapter 4

**Hallo my dear readers! I'm sorry for the delay - I didn't have internet access last week. If I didn't replay to your reviews, that's also why.**

**Disclaimer: I'm just dreaming.**

**Betaed by Breathesgirl**

* * *

><p><em>He wasn't the villain in the story anymore – so he could be the better man and save Bill.<em>

_He smiled in the dark at the irony of that. He could just imagine the look on Bill's face when he realized that it was Eric he owed his existence to._

_Oh, Bill – he thought, suddenly amused. – You're so screwed. You will get to be neither a hero **nor** a martyr. Whatever are you going to do? I believe it's a lose/lose for you!_

_It was probably one of the few times in Eric's long un-dead existence when he fell into his day-time rest fighting back a snicker._

* * *

><p>Sookie woke up feeling well-rested for the first time in what seemed like ages. She stretched and sighed contentedly. The bright light of day was filtering through her bedroom window; it was a sunny day.<p>

She blinked and smiled lazily as she remembered the previous night's events.

It was such a relief to know that Eric was going to be okay. It felt like a miracle – an unexpected grace, a way out of a hopeless situation, an impossible wish granted.

It had seemed like he had reached the point of no return, there had been no cure, no solution, nothing to do and then, suddenly, it turned out that there was! She couldn't have dreamed up a better scenario even if…

She sat up abruptly, her heart hammering and head swimming from the too quick movement. An icy shudder of fear ran down her spine.

…_couldn't have dreamed up…_

No.

No, no, no. It couldn't be.

Could it?

Eric had been there, at her house, just a few hours before. He had come to her, touched her, kissed her… hadn't he? She remembered the sound of his voice, the feel of his skin under her fingertips, his arms around her, his scent… The memory was so vivid, so real, it couldn't have possibly been just a _dream_.

_Are you sure about that? Have your other dreams about him not felt real? How can you be certain it wasn't just another blood-dream?_

She forced herself to take a deep, albeit shaky, breath and then to exhale slowly in order to not let the panic take over. She needed to think and she needed to think rationally. She was being paranoid. Why would she doubt her own senses and memory?

_Yeah, because it makes more sense for the non-existent cure to suddenly appear out of thin air __**just**_ _when you need it and for Eric to come by __**just**_ _to tell you he is going to be fine after you had pushed him away time and time again than for you to have a dream about something you desperately want to happen. Which one is more likely? _– a sarcastic, cruel voice in her head said: her own voice. She hated it.

She shut her eyelids tightly.

_Calm __**the fuck**_ _down, Sookie._

She scrambled from her bed clumsily and ran barefoot to the front door, as if she thought she could find some physical evidence of Eric's visit, but of course there was none. What did she expect to find? – He hadn't even entered the house and had not left any items behind. All he had done was stand on the porch and take off some of his clothes and then put them back on. There would be no empty bottle of True Blood, no moved chairs or forgotten shirt conveniently waiting for her to confirm her story and chase the doubt away. The porch was empty and the whole encounter seemed surreal in the daylight.

_Think._

There had to be a way to find out the truth. She knew that she wouldn't fully relax until she saw with her own eyes, when she wasn't exhausted and her brain was on a functioning level, that he was okay, but she needed at least a sign that she had not just made it all up tohelp her stay calm. Her first instinct had been to drive to Fangtasia and bang on the door demanding entry, but that was exactly what Eric had told her not to do – or at least she thought he had.

_Don't come to Fangtasia._

Maybe she could drive by very slowly and listen to the minds inside the building to see if there were any humans thinking in Japanese…

_I promise not to do anything stupid._

She sighed.

He had said he would contact her… that he might call her… maybe he had? She turned on her heel to look at the answering machine but there was no blinking light indicating that she had new messages. She realized that her cell-phone was still lying somewhere in the woods.

_Brilliant, Sookie._

What if he'd been trying to reach her that way?

Maybe _she_ should call him? She picked up the phone and started pressing the numbers. It was daytime, but maybe…

_Wait for my call._

"Fuck!" she cried out in frustration and threw the phone against the wall. The cheap plastic shattered at the impact and landed in pieces on the floor. Only then did Sookie belatedly realise that she had just cut off the only way Eric could use to communicate with her before nightfall. _Great._

She tried to pick up the pieces and put them back together but her hands trembled too much. She stopped and closed her eyes again. She needed to take a step back and regain some control. She waited what felt a like few minutes, but was probably only a few seconds, for her breath to stabilize before opening her eyes again.

When she did, the first thing her gaze fell upon was her blue bathrobe spread across the armchair – the bathrobe she had put on before going to open the door and finding Eric on the other side of the threshold in the late night hours - the same one she distinctly remembered hanging on thehook on the bathroom wall before going to sleep the night before.

She stared at it for a moment in silence and then started laughing so hard her belly ached. Eventually her laugh turned into a sob and then she finally quieted.

"Oh, Eric," she whispered, resting her head against the cool wall.

The sounds slowly came back into focus through the fog in her mind, returning with the other senses: the chirping of the birds outside, the clock ticking, the loud buzz of the old fridge in the kitchen.

This time her hands were steadier and she actually managed to put the pieces of the phone back together. She was just wondering if it would work when it started ringing and she almost dropped it again in surprise.

"Hello?" she said, answering it hurriedly.

"Sookie?"

She let the disappointment wash over her when the voice wasn't the one she expected and hoped for. She swallowed, "Jessica?" she asked. "Is everything okay? Why are you calling me at…" she looked at the clock, "…noon? You shouldn't be up! You're going to get the bleeds."

Suddenly she remembered. She sat up straighter. Of course – how could she forget?

_And yet you did_, said the small voice in her head. _You didn't even remember he existed just a minute ago._

"Sookie, I'm so glad to hear your voice! I didn't know who else to call."

"What is it? Is Bill…?"

"He's getting worse! He's awake and he says that he's made his peace with the fact he is sick and he wants to die! He convinced himself it's for the best and I'm afraid that he might try to do something to himself… He even tried to release me…" her voice broke.

"Oh, sweetie, he doesn't mean it. He thinks there is no hope and that it would hurt you less if he…"

"But he had already released me once!" she shouted. "Right after he turned me, when he had his 'I don't want to be a maker' phase… How can he not remember it? Sookie, what kind of maker doesn't remember whether he released his child or not?" The young vampiress sounded heart-broken.

_Only Bill…_

"Jessica, he's delusional," Sookie said firmly, hoping to high heaven that she was right and that was the reason, because she didn't have the heart to tell the poor girl differently. "It's the virus talking. I'm sure the real Bill knows that," she lied. She wasn't sure at all. "How can I help you?"

"Well… He was asking for you…"

Sookie hesitated, remembering how the previous night's visit ended.

"Jess, I don't know… You saw how he got when he saw me…"

"I know. I know and I'm sorry, Sookie! I don't want things to be… awkward for you," it was a nice thing to say that she understood that Sookie might not want to watch Bill hallucinating about being in bed with her. "It's just… I'm really tired and I'm afraid I'm going to pass out if I don't go to rest and he's… could you just come here and make sure he doesn't walk out to meet the sun or something like that? I'm really worried about him. I don't think I can leave him alone right now…"

Sookie looked down and played with the edge of her night-gown. She wasn't particularly looking forward to spending any time in the same room with Bill considering the circumstances, but she knew it was something she needed to do – if not for Bill, for Jessica. It was already hard enough on her.

"Sure, Jess," she said, trying to hide her reluctance. "I'll be there. I just need to do a few things before I can go, okay?"

"Thank you, Sookie. It really means a lot to me. I'll be waiting for you. Just call me when you're outside the door to let me know it's you and then wait for me to unlock it and hide."

"Will do. Bye."

After ending her call with Jessica Sookie changed into some actual clothes, got herself ready, drank her coffee and grabbed a snack to have something to eat at Bill's – after all, she hadn't even had a chance to eat breakfast that morning. She had one more errand to run before going to Bill's: she packed her charger and then she went on a search mission. She retraced her own steps from the night she had walked home from Merlotte's and after spending some time on a frustrating search (she didn't remember which bushes she had recklessly thrown her cell-phone at) she finally found the damn piece of electronic equipment. It was dead, as expected, but she hoped that maybe she would be able to get it working after plugging it in.

She shook her head again at her own stupidity. It was really a miracle she was still alive.

There was no point in dwelling on it so she simply put the cell-phone in her pocket and hightailed to Bill's.

She knocked on the mansion's door.

"Jessica? It's me, Sookie!"

She heard the locks moving and waited patiently for Jessica to tell her it was okay to come in.

"Thank you again for doing this, Sookie," the redhead said, leading her deeper into the house. She looked awfully pale, even for her standards, and there were traces of dried blood both under her nose and in the corners of her eyes. She had probably tried to wash away the evidence of the bleeds, but she had also cried. "He drifted off a while ago, but I'll feel better knowing you're here in case he wakes."

"Just show me where he is and go get some rest, honey. Don't worry about anything. I…" she hesitated, not sure if she should tell Jessica about the cure – she was going to find out if Eric gave it to Bill, but Sookie couldn't be completely sure if he would succeed in getting it on time considering Bill's quickly deteriorating condition and she didn't want to give Jessica false hope. On the other hand, she really wanted to comfort her.

_If Eric promised to help, then he'll help. It's not false hope - it's just hope._

"I talked to someone," she said carefully. "I don't want to raise your hopes, but there might be a way to help Bill."

"Really?!"

"Yes. Really," Sookie smiled softly.

"B-but how? Who?… When?! We should be doing something!"

"I already did what I could and so did you. Now all that is left to do is wait."

"But I didn't do _anything_I I'm just sitting here with Bill and making sure that he doesn't off himself before the virus does and doing _nothing_…"

"Exactly. You're watching over him – and as you pointed out yourself, someone has to. Now go get some sleep and I'll take over. Help is on the way."

Jessica looked torn for a moment but finally her shoulders sagged and she nodded.

"Okay," she whispered.

Sookie smiled at her reassuringly. The vampiress hesitated one more time:

"Just how far… on the way is that help?"

"I should know more in the evening."

Jessica nodded again.

"Thank you, Sookie. Whether it works or not, I want you to know how grateful I am to you for even trying. I know you and Bill haven't been…"

"You're welcome, Jessica. I would do that for anyone… and I can't really take too much credit. I did nothing more than ask for help." Sookie thought of Eric: he was doing all the dirty work and he didn't even like Bill.

Jessica smiled for the first time that day.

"Well then," she said. "I guess you asked the right person."

"That I did," Sookie whispered long after Jessica walked away.

* * *

><p><strong>I don't remember when Sookie got back her phone, but for the sake of this story let's just agree that's what happened.<strong>

**Be so kind and leave me a review.**


	5. Chapter 5

**It's been... well, too long. Don't worry though, I didn't abandon this story.**

**As always, big thanks for my beta, Breathesgirl.**

**Dislaimer: True Blood doesn't belong to me - but we belong together ;)**

* * *

><p><em>Previously:<em>

_"Thank you, Sookie. Whether it works or not, I want you to know how grateful I am to you for even trying. I know you and Bill haven't been…"_

_"You're welcome, Jessica. I would do that for anyone… and I can't really take too much credit. I did nothing more than ask for help." Sookie thought of Eric: he was doing all the dirty work and he didn't even like Bill._

_Jessica smiled for the first time that day._

_"Well then," she said. "I guess you asked the right person."_

_"That I did," Sookie whispered long after Jessica walked away._

* * *

><p>"You're really here."<p>

Sookie jumped, startled by Bill's voice. She'd been lost in thought and didn't realise the vampire was awake. She'd been sitting in the old house in silence for hours, curled up in the big, plush armchair. She tried to read a little but she wasn't able to concentrate on the book.

She kept coming back to fiddling with her phone and constantly checking it for new messages, though she knew very well there were none except for the one one-word text she had found when she had plugged in her cell and turned it on. It read: "_TONIGHT"_ which for some reason made her heart race every time she looked at it.

She looked up and across the room at Bill who was lying on the bed and was staring at her unblinkingly. His unmoving glance unnerved her.

"You're awake," she said, stating the obvious.

He didn't look good – the black veins visible not only on his exposed arms, but also creeping up his neck.

"I wasn't sure," Bill continued, ignoring her statement. "You see, with all the dreams I'm not always sure what's real anymore."

She swallowed and stared at him looking for all the world like a deer caught in the headlights.

"How do you feel?" she asked, trying to compose herself.

Bill's face became blank and a strange, disconcerting smiled played on his lips.

She jumped again when her phone pinged before Bill could answer her. Despite waiting for it to come to life for the last few hours it still managed to surprise her when it actually did.

She quickly looked at the screen. It didn't say anything about the plan, but it meant Eric was awake too. That made her feel better, like the wait was almost over.

"_Stay indoors. Don't go outside after dark,"_ she read.

She wasn't sure if it meant that something was supposed to happen in the neighborhood that night or if Eric was simply warning her not to be reckless and wander around in the night with the infected vamps on the loose but she felt that she needed to let him know where she was.

"_I'm at Bill's," _she typed and then she hesitated when it occurred to her how he could interpret that particular piece of information. She added: "_Jess asked"_ but then erased it quickly because it looked too much like she was trying to explain away her guilt when she hadn't done anything to feel guilty about.

She knew that it was a little ridiculous: she wasn't with Eric and she didn't have to explain herself to him, but she also felt it important that Eric knew there wasn't anything more to her being at Bill's than simply being a decent human being. She didn't want him to think she used him to get the cure so that she could be with Bill and have her own happily ever after with the younger vampire. She had hurt Eric enough already by holding too long onto her feelings for Bill in the past.

She typed: "_Be safe_" instead and pressed 'send' before she could overthink it.

"Who was that?" Bill asked, forgoing answering her previous question.

"Eric," she said reluctantly, but truthfully. She didn't know what Eric's plan was and she wasn't sure how much she could say and how much should remain secret until he got there.

"Eric?" Bill sounded surprised. "What does he want from you?"

Sookie shot him an irritated glance. For all Bill knew Eric was still sick. She had no idea why Bill thought it was perfectly okay for _him_ to tell Jessica to call Sookie and ask for her to come and be with him in his last moments, but found it so strange that _Eric_ would want to hear from her as well.

"He's just checking on me," she said which ended up putting an even more bewildered expression on Bill's face. Sookie internally rolled her eyes; Bill was just so focused on himself it probably really didn't occur to him there might be other things going on in Sookie's life and other people to consider. She sighed and made a decision to reveal a little detail to Bill since it seemed harmless: "He might stop by later," she warned.

"Why?" Bill asked, suddenly growing bitter. "So you can say goodbye to the both of us at the same time again?"

Sookie bristled at the jab and turned red.

"I'm _not_ saying goodbye to Eric!" she said firmly. She took a deep breath and then added more calmly: "Nor to you. You're not dead yet."

"It won't be much longer," Bill said, his attitude blasé.

Sookie sat up straighter.

"Bill, listen to me. I know you're in pain but you need to fight it."

"What's the point? I can't beat it."

"If you don't fight, you'll die for sure," _and it will all be for nothing_ – she finished in her mind.

"I will die anyway, Sookie," he said bluntly. His eyes softened. "It doesn't matter," he added. "It's for the best."

"So I've heard since that's what you told Jessica."

"It's true. Don't worry about me, Sookie. It's okay. I've accepted it. It was always meant to end this way. I was supposed to be dead, truly dead, a long time ago ."

"You can't just give up!"

"It's okay," he repeated. "I want to die."

Sookie looked at him concerned, an uneasy feeling starting to form in her gut. Was he serious? Did he really believe what he was saying?

"You're only saying that because you've lost hope. You don't really want to die, you just think you don't have a choice. If you were not sick, you wouldn't have thought you are supposed to die!"

She certainly hoped that was the case, because if it was not…

Bill shook his head and smiled again.

"No, Sookie. I mean it: I really think it's time for me."

"What if… there _was_ a cure? Would you not take it? Are you telling me you would still want to die?"

"Yes. I would prefer to die. It took Hep-V for me to realise it, but I finally know that I don't belong here. It was meant to be."

"So _now_ you think vampires are wrong and should not be here?" Sookie said, suddenly feeling very angry. "After you bombed the True Blood factories, destroyed human-vampire relations in the name of the crazy ideology that claimed vampires are the superior race and demanded they treat humans like nothing more than cattle and after you decided to become a vampire god?"

"It was a mistake," Bill said in a pained voice. "One I deeply regret."

"So what, you're just going to die and leave your mess behind?"

"You'll be better off without me," Bill said calmly.

"I don't need you to die to be without you" Sookie challenged. "What about Jessica? Is she going to be better off without her maker too?"

She was so mad at Bill at that moment. All the tears Jessica had cried for him, all the guilt she, Sookie, had to endure knowing she was the reason he was dying and he had the guts to tell her it didn't matter?

Did she make a mistake by trying to save him? Was he really going to refuse to take the cure when presented with it? Or was it all talk? She had never imagined he could do something like this, otherwise she would have never asked Eric to get involved if she thought it would be for nothing. She suddenly regretted that she had. Eric was probably risking his neck somewhere in Shreveport at the very moment they were talking, and that self-centered prick…

"She'll be fine," Bill's voice brought her back to reality. "She doesn't need me."

"You're a coward," Sookie spat. "You're running."

"I would hardly call dying from a disease running away, Sookie," Bill reasoned.

"It has nothing to do with the virus and everything to do with your attitude! It's always someone or something else, isn't it, Bill? It's never you. You never take responsibility for your own actions!"

"It's too late now."

"Shut up, Bill! Just…" she took a shaky breath. "…shut up."

* * *

><p>Eric shut the phone before tossing it at the nearest flat surface and turning to his 'guest'.<p>

Mr. Gus warily followed the vampire's movements with his eyes from his place in the corner of Fangtasia's main room where he was sitting tied to the chair.

He cursed himself for not realising any sooner that Eric Northman spoke Japanese fluently.

As for Eric, it never ceased to amaze him that it surprised humans that he could speak more than one or two languages when they knew he was a thousand years old. They were able to master a few during their short lifespan, why did they think he wouldn't learn more during a millennium?

He had just gotten off the phone with Mr. Gus's Japanese boss, the head of the whole Yakonomo corporation.

Things didn't go exactly as planned earlier that night: the first part of Eric's plan worked without a hitch – he had managed to provoke the 'Men in Black' by using his words only. When Pam went to the basement to retrieve Sarah for her make over session, since it was decided that the bitch's hair was to be bleached blond again, Eric made it seem as if he ordered his progeny to not just move Sarah, but to steal her as well.

One of the men took the bait and blocked Pam's way with the intention of stopping her. The second he drew his weapon, his entire arm was removed. Of course Eric came to Pam's 'rescue' and the entire fight was over in less than a minute. The Japanese might be trained, but now that Eric was at full strength they didn't stand a chance against him.

Eric didn't feel the slightest remorse for killing them either: They were professional assassins and they knew what they were signing up for when they took the job.

Unfortunately, Mr. Gus wasn't as accommodating as Eric had hoped and refused to believe Eric's story. He had faith in his employees' loyalty, which was admittedly admirable, but if he had more common sense he would have been smart enough to go along with it once he realised it was too late to help his people. As it was, Eric felt he had no other choice than to forgo Mr. Gus and settle the matter directly with his superiors – hence the chair, the restraints and the phone.

The young businessman listened to Eric's conversation with resignation, already seeing that things were not going to turn in his favour. It seemed his boss took a much more pragmatic approach and was willing to turn a blind eye to the fate of a few low-level employees in order to keep the Viking placated and not to risk a very profitable business – especially when Eric mentioned that he had arranged for his trusted doctor to draw a sample of his own blood after he had been healed and extract the formula for the cure from it to serve as a form of insurance if needed.

It was a bluff, but it was a good one. He fully intended to follow up on his words and have Ludwig do just that or better yet, to give her the sample of Sarah's blood, so he politely informed his new 'colleagues' that from now on he was to be treated like a partner, not like a pawn, and that if anything happened to him or anyone under his protection the full information on the cure would go viral. That little tidbit did the trick and the corporate people certainly seemed much more open to negotiations.

Eric crouched in front of Mr. Gus so his face was in his line of sight before removing the gag.

"I'm afraid something has to change in our working relationship in order for this co-operation to work," Eric said coolly.

Mr. Gus stared at him hard.

"Why am I still alive?" he asked finally, cutting right to the chase.

Eric clucked his tongue, staying in character.

"A dangerous question to ask of the one holding you prisoner."

"I'm not stupid, Mr. Northman. You just proved that you don't need me as a middle man and don't have a problem with killing someone who is in your way either. It simply makes me wonder what you want from me that would make you think twice before disposing of me like you did with my people."

Eric smirked. He appreciated the bluntness and the fact that the man wasn't showing any fear in the face of danger.

"You're right, I don't need you," he said plainly.

"Then why?"

Eric didn't answer immediately, he just looked at the man before him.

"When I was sick, you had the opportunity to snatch Sarah without my help. You didn't have to wait for me to wake. You could have just let me die and take the whole prize. You didn't though, and I can only guess that it was because you had given me your word. Don't think I have forgotten that. _That's _the reason why you're still alive."

Despite the restrains still biting into his flesh Mr. Gus felt suddenly much better when the meaning of the vampire's words sunk in: he had been right about Eric Northman, after all.

The Viking was ruthless, devious and he didn't have much regard for the law, but he acted according to an inner code the warrior in the younger man recognised and understood. Eric might not be human, but he was the kind of man Mr. Gus could respect.

"Mr. Northman," he said letting a slow smile spread on his face, "I think we might be able to come to an understanding."

* * *

><p><strong>I admit, I surprised even myself with letting Eric spare Mr. Gus, but it just felt right. Let me know if you're still reading this story!<strong>


End file.
